Missouri Football 2016 SEC East Prediction: 4th
With Spring Practice in full swing, I make my annual SEC predictions for the upcoming 2016 football season.
Missouri football took two seasons at not really being good at football, but still finding a way to win the SEC East anyway. They weren’t really any good last season either, but they were still on the cusp of a bowl game at 5-7, and the Missouri football program turned down a bowl opportunity when enough eligible teams weren’t available. What does the 2016 season hold for the Tigers?
| Opponent | Home or Away | Predicted Outcome | Wins | Losses | SEC Wins | SEC Losses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia Mountaineers | Away | Loss | 1 | |||
| Eastern Michigan Eagles | Home | Win | 1 | |||
| Georgia Bulldogs | Home | Loss | 2 | 1 | ||
| Delaware State Hornets | Home | Win | 2 | |||
| LSU Tigers | Away | Loss | 3 | 2 | ||
| Florida Gators | Away | Loss | 4 | 3 | ||
| Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders | Home | Win | 3 | |||
| Kentucky Wildcats | Home | Win | 4 | 1 | ||
| South Carolina Gamecocks | Away | Loss | 5 | 4 | ||
| Vanderbilt Commodores | Away | Win | 5 | 2 | ||
| Tennessee Vols | Road | Loss | 6 | 5 | ||
| Arkansas Razorbacks | Home | Loss | 7 | 6 | ||
| Overall 5-7, SEC 1-7 |
Gary Pinkel has retired from coaching the Missouri football team. He apparently was battling lymphoma all of last season and decided to hang it up for health reasons.
That means former Defensive Coordinator Barry Odom is the new head coach. The Missouri football team could play defense, so keeping Odom on to lead the team is probably a good move.
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The Missouri football team will have the same issues Vandy will have in 2016. Can the Tigers score enough points to get to six, seven, or eight wins? I don’t think they will, but I wouldn’t rule it out when the defense is as stout as this one was in 2015.
They will have chances though. I could easily see them beating South Carolina or West Virginia, but I am hesitant to predict it because those games are on the road. Of all the teams that come up short of bowl eligibility in the East, I feel like the Missouri football team has the best chance of getting four teams in the division to a bowl.